1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to methods for the diagnosis of a brain tumor and for the estimation of a prognosis for patients having a brain tumor using the presence/absence of a particular IDH1 mutation as a marker.
2. Related Art
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States after cardiovascular disease. One in three Americans will develop cancer in his or her lifetime, and one of every four Americans will die of cancer. Malignant human gliomas account for the largest number of human malignant brain tumors. So far, the treatment of gliomas includes neurosurgical techniques (resection or stereotactic procedures), radiation therapy and chemotherapy. However, despite these therapies gliomas are considered as nearly incurable as they fail to respond to ionising radiation, chemotherapy and surgical resection. In other words, with these therapies only a very limited prolongation of lifespan of patients can be achieved, i.e. despite these therapies, the average life span after diagnosis is merely 12 to 16 months. The knowledge of prognostic factors might be decisive for the selection of the preferable kind of life prolonging therapy.